LiikKUVAT brings video art to facilities

LiikKUVAT-palvelu, roughly translated as moving images services, is a co-operative art therapy initiative aimed at facilities that house long-term patients. These services are specifically intended for audiences with various impediments to movement. Originally conceived and begun in 2010, this service began in eldercare nursing home facilities in Tampere, working alongside the Tampere Art Museum and the Pirkanmaa Regional Arts Council.

Since the video art works are primarily used in common areas or small groups to evoke communication, each video is carefully selected for the setting. For example, and elderly patient may connect a memory to a certain artwork and begin talking about their experiences. In order to select a piece, consideration is given to the character of the facility, the architecture of the space intended for each video art piece, and the temperament of the patients. In the field of Finnish video art work, many pieces have been deemed appropriate and useful in facilities to increase patient accessibility to art.

With the success of the program in elder care facilities, LiikKUVAT has broadened the scope of their intended audience by introducing the program to psychiatric hospitals. In 2014, The Tampere University Hospital’s Pitkäniemi Psychiatric Hospital in Nokia joined the facilities where video art is used. Caretakers and medical staff have experienced an increase in patient well-being with the commencement of this program, especially finding video works containing animals to be curative and empowering. Each video artwork is shown in common areas for a few weeks before a new piece is installed, while compilations used in group settings are provided to staff on DVD.

Since the inception of this program, positive feedback has brought wide-spread interest from healthcare experts in other Scandinavian and European countries. If you are interested in finding out more about the LiikKUVAT art-in-healthcare model, please contact: